Saint Andrew

Object Details

Title:

Saint Andrew

Artist/Maker(s):

Masaccio (Tommaso di Giovanni Guidi) (Italian (Florentine), 1401 - 1428)

Culture:

Italian

Date:

1426

Medium:

Tempera and gold leaf on panel

Dimensions:

52.4 x 32.1 cm (20 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.)

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Saint Andrew is identified by his attributes of a cross and a book. The cross refers to his martyrdom by crucifixion. The Saint Andrewpanel was originally part of the upper right tier of a large altarpiece commissioned by a wealthy public officer for a church in Pisa. St. Andrew's haunting gaze in this painting is turned toward Christ on the cross, shown in the altarpiece's upper middle panel. Other panels of the fifteen-foot-tall altarpiece are in museums throughout Europe.

The modulation of light and shadow in Saint Andrew's robe gives the illusion of physical weight and solidity to the figure underneath. Masaccio was famous for his innovative depiction of three-dimensional forms in painting and his ability to portray figures with convincing physical and emotional presence.

Provenance
1426 - late 16th century

Santa Maria del Carmine (Pisa, Italy), commisioned from the artist by Ser Giuliano di Colino di Pietro degli Scarsi di San Giusto, 1426.

by 1892

Adolph Bayersdorfer, 1842 - 1901 (Munich, Germany), by gift to Karol Lanckoronski.

after 1892 - 1933

Count Karol Lanckoronski, 1848 - 1933 (Vienna, Austria), by inheritance to his son, Antoni Lanckoronski, and his two daughters, Karolina Lanckoronska and Adelheid (Adelajda) Lanckoronska, 1933.

1933 - 1939

Antoni Lanckoronski, 1883 - 1965 (Vienna, Austria)

and Karolina Lanckoronska, 1898 - 2002 (Vienna, Austria)

and Countess Adelheid Lanckoronska, 1903 - 1980 (Vienna, Austria), looted by the Nazis, 1939.

and Karolina Lanckoronska, 1898 - 2002 (Vienna, Austria; Vorarlberg, Austria; Zürich, Switzerland)

and Countess Adelheid Lanckoronska, 1903 - 1980 (Vienna, Austria; Vorarlberg, Austria; Zürich, Switzerland), sold by Karolina Lanckoronska, through the Heim Gallery (London, England), to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1979.

1939 - 1945

In the possession of the Nazis (Schloss Stiesberg, near Wiener-Neustadt, Austria), restituted to Antoni Lanckoronski, Karolina Lanckoronska, and Adelheid (Adelajda) Lanckoronska, 1945.

1945 - 1979

Antoni Lanckoronski, 1883 - 1965 (Vienna, Austria; Vorarlberg, Austria; Zürich, Switzerland)

Exhibitions
Masaccio (September 12 to November 11, 2001)
  • The National Gallery (London), September 12 to November 11, 2001
Masaccio e le origini del Rinascimento (September 20, 2002 to January 26, 2003) (Cat. 17)
  • Casa Masaccio, (Arezzo), September 20, 2002 to January 26, 2003
Bibliography

Borghini, Raffaello. Il riposo (Florence: Giorgio Marescotti,1584), p. 314.

Fredericksen, Burton B., et al. The J. Paul Getty Museum Guidebook. 5th ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1980), pp. 66-67, ill.

Hoving, Thomas. "Money and Masterpieces." Connoisseur 216, no. 899 (December 1986), p. 97.

Fredericksen, Burton B. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Rev. ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1988), unpaginated, no. 3, ill.

Fredericksen, Burton B., et al. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum. 3rd ed. (Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1995), unpaginated, no. 3, ill., entry by Burton B. Fredericksen.

Jaffé, David. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997), p. 82, ill.

The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Collections. 6th ed. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001), p. 93, ill.

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